Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Here’s a Halloween item for the kids featuring Top Cat and his gang of cool cats. Was there ever a better series from Hanna-Barbera?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Well, Top Cat might have been topped by Frankenstein Jr. in concept, if not actual plot and writing. If ever a cartoon series reflected the ideals of Atomic Surgery, this is it! A Frankenstein super-robot that fights weird villains aided by his kid-sidekick (or was it the other way around?):

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal a distant planet with a warm spot in the wrong place.

The gas-giant planet, named upsilon Andromedae b, orbits tightly around its star, with one face perpetually boiling under the star's heat. It belongs to a class of planets termed hot Jupiters, so called for their scorching temperatures and large, gaseous constitutions.

One might think the hottest part of these planets would be directly under the sun-facing side, but previous observations have shown that their hot spots may be shifted slightly away from this point. Astronomers thought that fierce winds might be pushing hot, gaseous material around.

But the new finding may throw this theory into question. Using Spitzer, an infrared observatory, astronomers found that upsilon Andromedae b's hot spot is offset by a whopping 80 degrees. Basically, the hot spot is over to the side of the planet instead of directly under the glare of the sun.

They've guessed at some possibilities, including supersonic winds triggering shock waves that heat material up, and star-planet magnetic interactions. But these are just speculation. As more hot Jupiters are examined, astronomers will test new theories.

"We really didn't expect to find a hot spot with such a large offset," said Ian Crossfield. "It's clear that we understand even less about the atmospheric energetics of hot Jupiters than we thought we did."

This animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered that the hottest part of the planet, shown here as bright, orange patches on the surface, is not directly under the glare of its star but over to the side. linkRef: A NEW 24 μm PHASE CURVE FOR υ ANDROMEDAE b. 2010. I.J.M. Crossfield, et al. Astrophyscial Journal 723: 1436.

Celebrate the art and career of Al Williamson at a special exhibit at Marywood University’s Mahady Gallery in Scranton, Pennsylvania from October 8-11, 2010. “Al Williamson: A Tribute” will showcase over 60 original works spanning five decades. More than ten pieces will represent each decade from 1950 to 2000.

The event also doubles as a memorial service of sorts. Al would not have liked a day of maudlin sentiment, but would have approved of his friends getting together to look at great art, although I'm sure he'd have rather that folks were looking at a wall of Krenkel's or Foster's!

Featured will be original art done for comics, posters, trading cards, preliminary sketches, family birthday and Christmas cards, as well as drawings he did for his own pleasure. Comic pieces include finished pages for Flash Gordon, Star Wars pages and covers, Secret Agent Corrigan strips, and comic pages for Eerie magazine (“The Jungle”). Examples of Al’s pages from Weird Science (“Captivity”), Classics Illustrated (The World Around Us: Prehistoric Animals), Blade Runner, Dark Horse Presents (“One Last Job”), his Sub-Mariner story, as well as inked pages completed for Marvel Comics, and more, will be on display.

The exhibit reception will be held on Friday, October 8 from 6-9 PM. The Mahady Gallery is located on the Marywood Universtiy campus in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Gallery hours and directions. More details are available here.

Flesk Publications has donated copies of Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic and Al Williamson Archives, Vol. 1 for the reception. All proceeds from the sales of these titles will go towards the Al Williamson Scholarship Fund at the The Joe Kubert School. Those unable to make the show and would like to make a donation can send a check to: